Three men suspected to be militants were arrested with six AK rifles in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, a senior police officer said.

A truck was intercepted at 8 am on the Jammu-Pathankot Highway at Lakhanpur and during checking six AK rifles were seized, Inspector General of Police, Jammu, Mukesh Singh said.

The truck was on its way to Kashmir from Bamyal area of Pathankot, he said.

Further search of the vehicle is under way, the IGP said, adding that the three arrested men, who hailed from Kashmir, were being questioned.

It is believed that either of these suspected militants infiltrated from across the International Border via Bamyal border in Pathankot with the help of over-ground workers to the Kashmir Valley, they said.

Sources claim that these men were planning to execute a major strike.

Meanwhile, Punjab Police have rushed a team of state special operation cell (SSOC) to Kathua for joining investigation in the recovery of AK rifles from a truck originating in Punjab.

Besides, the Pathankot police is already following the leads.

DGP Dinkar Gupta in Chandigarh said, “We have dispatched an officer from SSOC Amritsar to join investigations being done by J&K Police and our senior officers are in touch with their J&K counterparts to take the matter forward.”

Later, addressing a press conference, the Kathua SSP said four AK-56 rifles, two AK-47 rifles, six magazines and 180 live rounds, besides Rs 11,000 in cash were recovered from the militants who are associated with Jaish-e-Mohammad.

Police identified the three as Ubaid-ul-Islam, a resident of Aghlar Kandi, Rajpora Pulwama; Jehangir Ahmad Parray, a resident of Pakherpora Charar-e-Sharief, Budgam; and Sabeel Ahmad Baba, a resident of Aghlar Kandi, Rajpora Pulwama.

They were illegally transporting arms and ammunition to Kashmir from Punjab “to disturb peace in J&K”. With PTI

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